Traffic goes haywire as thousands throng BSP rally
Chandigarh, May 29
Commuters were caught in chaotic traffic jams on the streets leading from Mohali to the Sector 25 rally ground as over 25,000 supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party descended on the city from other states to attend Mayawati’s rally on Sunday.SEA OF HUMANITY A large number of supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party attend the rally of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at the Sector 25 rally ground in Chandigarh on Sunday. Tribune photo: Vinay Malik

Ahead of MC poll, Mayawati fails to mention Chandigarh in her speech
Chandigarh, May 29
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati failed to strike a local chord at the North Zone Workers’ Conference here
today.Even as the BSP leader raised accusing fingers at the Opposition’s attempts to “destablise” the UP government.

Rain springs pleasant surprise on city residents
Chandigarh, May 29
The long stretch of scorching heat and endless sweating finally got a break as the city received a pleasant surprise of evening rain showers, accompanied by hail in some areas this evening, bringing the temperature down by 13 degrees
celsius.

caught in rain A young rider comes back to the stable as rain disturbed his daily practice on Sunday evening. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tiwari

17-yr-old raped
Mohali, May 29
A 17-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by two youths at Sector 71 here last night.
The victim, who was working as a domestic help at the house of a retired PCS
officer in Sector 69, was taken away by youths- Raju and Nandu and was assaulted
at a place in Sector 71.

PU syndics scrap key post
Chandigarh, May 29
At their meeting held on Sunday members of the Panjab University syndicate decided to abolish the position of associate dean of the college development council (CDC) with immediate effect. The move is expected to be approved by the senate, the varsity’s supreme governing body.

Gopal Dass marries Shimla girl
Panchkula, May 29
Gopal Dass, who returned to India after 27 years in Pakistani jails, tied the knot with a girl from Shimla at a gurdwara in Sector 12 here this morning. The couple will stay with their relatives in Chandimandir for the next couple of days.

Members of NGO visit paediatrics ward
Chandigarh, May 29
Members of an NGO, Tammana, today visited the paediatrics ward of the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, to distribute cash vouchers among patients who cannot afford the cost of their treatment. The youngsters also gave roses and cards to the patients in the general ward and had decorated the ward to cheer up sick children.

misuse of land A view of illegal encroachments in Colony No. 5. Tribune photos Manoj Mahajan

UT’s proposal on underpass turned down
Mohali, May 29
As the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is in the process of inviting detailed notice inviting tenders (DNITs) for the construction of an international terminal at the Chandigarh airport, an ambitious proposal of the Union Territory to have a direct access between the existing domestic airport and the proposed international terminal through an underpass under the existing runway has been turned down.

Stray cattle continue to haunt Panchkula roads
Panchkula, May 29
Despite tall claims of the authorities, the menace of stray cattle continued to haunt this satellite town as these could be seen on the town’s main road not only during night hours, but also at day time.

Dog falls into trench, pulled out after 12 hours
Mohali, May 29
Sheer negligence on the part of a private contractor engaged by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to shift an electricity line is giving a lot of trouble to the residents of Industrial Area, Phase IX, here.

Mobile tower fall disrupts traffic for over two hours
Zirakpur, May 29
Dust storm and rain on Sunday evening resulted in falling of a mobile tower on the flyover connecting the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway here.As the tower came crashing on the Derabassi side of the flyover, the traffic on the busy section remained stranded for over two hours.

Day after rape, police searches spot
Chandigarh, May 29
A day after a 35-year-old woman was found raped and abandoned in the forest area near Colony Number 4, the police conducted an exhaustive search in the forest to look for any clues. The woman regained consciousness in the hospital today and said she did not know what happened with her that night. Police investigations are now narrowing in on drug addicts residing in the area, who raped the woman when she came to the deserted area to attend nature’s call.

Panel on Economic Census
Chandigarh, May 29
For effectively monitoring and coordinating various functions of the sixth Economic Census 2012, the UT administration has constituted a state-level steering committee under the chairmanship of the Adviser to the UT Administrator, according to a press note.

Memo of strictures issued to former UT Joint Secy
Chandigarh, May 29
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has held a former UT Joint Secretary (Home) responsible for lapse in discharging her duties while providing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to a former Assistant Secretary, UT State Transport Authority (STA) VK Sharma.

Agri coop members threaten stir
Panchkula, May 29
Members of the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) have threatened to continue their pen-down strike if their demands are not met by May 31.Stating this here, Karanveer Sandhu, state president of the PACS, said they had a meeting with a delegation led by Ramersh Krishnan, Joint Secretary.

Flute recital by GS Rajan today
Chandigarh, May 29
World-renowned flute maestro Pandit GS Rajan will give a live flute recital tomorrow at 6.30 pm at the Randhawa auditorium in a special classical music concert organised by the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademy.

‘Amar Katha’ marks end of theatre fest
Chandigarh, May 29
A five-day theatre festival “Adakarian-2011” concluded at Government College, Sector 46, with the staging of a Punjabi play, “Amar Katha” here today.

Open house
We read in newspapers that there is no shortage of power supply in the city this year and that there would be no rotational power cuts. From the past fortnight, we have been witnessing unscheduled power cuts at odd hours, particularly during the night.

Chandigarh scan
A meeting of the UT Cadre Employees’ Promoter Union was held under the aegis of Bharatiya Janata Mazdoor Mahasangh here on Sunday. The meeting was inaugurated by Arun
Sood, general secretary of the local unit of the BJP. Bharatiya Janata Mazdoor Mahasangh national secretary Amardeep Sawhney demanded that contract system in education and educational institutions should be withdrawn immediately and working on contract should be
regularised. Meanwhile, Swarn Singh Kamboj was elected president and Rakesh Puri as general secretary of the unit. Rakesh Mittal and Amarjit Singh were elected secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Free education till PG for 16 slum kids
Chandigarh, May 29
Jyoti, a student of Class XII, had never imagined that her dream to get enrolled in a hotel management course would suddenly become so effortless.Jyoti, along with 15 other students hailing from city slums, who are also exceptional theatre artistes, were offered free education till postgraduation at a programme hosted at Government High School, Sector 24, today.Slum children adopted by Theatre Age, along with Bollywood lyricist Anil Jhingran, at Government High School, Sector 24, Chandigarh, on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

PU depts to get Rs 20-cr grant
Chandigarh, May 29
The department of nano-technology and Centre for Women Studies, Panjab University, would be designated as centres of potential excellence. The two departments would also receive a grant of Rs 20 crore from the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the proposals sent by them to the UGC.

Railway employees pay tributes to martyrs
Kalka, May 29
More than 3,000 railway employees from Kalka, Ambala, Shimla and Delhi, including leaders of various railway unions today paid homage to the five martyrs of the Railways, who were shot dead in 1956 by the police.

Village residents block national highway
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 29
Residents of Miyapur village today blocked NH-1 after a crushed body of 45-year-old man was found lying in a pool of blood adjoining the highway.Village residents alleged that a rashly driven tipper-truck crushed the man to death last night, as no other vehicle could reach there.

Search on, no result so far
Ambala, May 29
The search for the bodies of two youths Sahil and Nitish, who were feared drowned in Narwana branch near Jansui village, yielded no result and was abandoned this evening.

INLD leader alleges step-motherly treatment by Selja
Kalka, May 29
Kumari Selja, MP and the Central Minister, has been giving a step-mother treatment to Panchkula. This was revealed by an RTI information sought by Vijay Bansal, INLD leader and president of the Shiwalik Vikas Manch.

Scholarships for meritorious students
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 29
The Continental Group of Institutes (CGI) has announced a scholarship scheme for the year 2011-2012 in memory of and named after Ranjeet
Sandhu.BS Sandhu president, CGI, said the scheme was for meritorious and not-so-resourceful students. A student could avail of an individual scholarship of Rs 1.07 lakh.

Rice millers demand ban on cultivation
Fatehgarh Sahib, May 29
Rice millers of Fatehgarh Sahib have demanded a ban on the cultivationof the PAU 201 varietyof in view of already pending 1 lakh tonne unmilled rice of this variety all over Punjab.

800 units of blood collected
Patiala, May 29
Punjab Yuvak Chetna Manch organised a blood donation camp at Rajkamal Palace here today. A total 800 units of blood was
collected.Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill lauded the efforts of the club stating that blood donation was a noble cause and every person should donated blood once in every three months in order to help the needy. He, too, donated blood during the camp.

Noble cause Boxer Vijender Singh distributes prizes to the participaints of a blood donation Camp in Patiala on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Free medical camp
Patiala, May 29
Rainbow Club for special children, Patiala, with the help of Gurkirpa Group, organised a free medical camp for special children at Teja Singh Kandhari School, here today.Neurologist Dr KB Garg treated around 50 such children with the help of natural therapy and exercises.

Domestic help held for duping employer
Chandigarh, May 29
In yet another case of theft involving domestic help as accused, the police arrested a domestic help who fled with Rs 5 lakh cash from his employer’s house.The police arrested Mahabir Singh, a resident of
Uttrakand, who decamped Rs 5 lakh from the house of his employer Rashpal Bains from her house in Khuda Ali Sher near Sector 11.

2 car thieves arrested, stolen vehicles recovered
Mohali, May 29
Two Mauli Baidwan village-based car thieves- Mohammed Sabar and Mohammed Irshad, both hailing from Malerkotla, have been arrested in connection with the theft of four cars and two motorcycles.

Manish restricts Bathinda to 179 runs
Mohali, May 29
Deadly bowling spell by Manish (six for 68) restricted Bathinda at 179 runs in their first innings against host Mohali on the first day of the first match of the third round of the Under-19 Dhruv Pandove Trophy Tournament at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium here today.

Chinoy, Shivam move into main draw
Panchkula, May 29
Chinoy Sethi, Abhi Singh, Anmol Rattan, Shrut Mohan, Ritvik Mahapatra, Akshit Chabra, Shivam Vij and Sarvesh Marriya moved into the main draw of the boys’ under-12 section without any resistance in the Dikshant AITA Talent Series Total Tennis Tournament being played on Dikshant Global School premises, Sector 12, here today.

Mohit steers Airtel XI to victory
Panchkula, May 29
72-run knock by Mohit Gupta enabled Airtel XI to register a thumping victory of six wickets over ICICI Bank XI in a league match of the IVth Hot Weather Cup League Cricket Tournament, organised by the Chandigarh Sports Club at Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, Sector 3, here today.

Proud Moment

Organisers show the trophies that will be given to the winners of the 13th All-India U-17 National Day/Night League Cricket Championship to be held from June 2, Panchkula. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

Winners of the Squay Championship organised by the Squay Association of Chandigarh at Adarsh Public School, Sector 20, Chandigarh. A Tribune photograph

Best pitches, ground award for PCA
Mohali, May 29
The Punjab Cricket Association is richer by Rs 25 lakh, as it got the “Best Pitches and Ground” award on the conclusion of the Indian Premier League-4 yesterday at Chennai.

Rolling Tigers clinch 71 medals
Panchkula, May 29
Maintaining the dominance in local skating arena, the local Rolling Tigers Skating Academy won a total of 71 medals (40 gold, 15 silver and 16 bonze) in the 9th Bhavan Hawk Skating Carnival, which concluded yesterday at Bhavan Vidyalya School.